Shooting: Story

Babes with Bullets 3-Gun Challenge Continues

Three-gun camps are being well-received. (Courtesy Babes with Bullets)

By: Special to OutdoorChannel.com

Babes with Bullets, well-known for its handgun programs sponsored by Smith & Wesson since 2004, launched into the 3-gun market in 2012.

The first multi-gun camp was a resounding success and additional camps have been well received through 2013. Based on the growing popularity of the multi-gun camps and competitions, Nick Noble of Rockcastle Shooting Center (host location for the hugely popular AR-15 Rockcastle Pro Am Challenge) sent out an invitation to women to participate in the August match.

The 40 slots he held back for the women were filled within a few days. Between the amateur and pro divisions there will be over fifty women participating at the August 23rd to 25th event in KY.

"This is the largest number of women to ever compete in a multi-gun match!” Noble said. “Rockcastle Shooting Center is proud to be part of this record breaking accomplishment."

Many of the women participating do not own all the necessary firearms so loaner equipment is being made available from the Babes with Bullets camp inventory with Smith &Wesson handguns and rifles, along with Mossberg shotguns.

"We had two goals in issuing our challenge," Babes with Bullets' head instructor Kay Miculek said. "We wanted to attract new women to participate in the multi-gun sport, and to offer more recognition and encouragement with financial payout to the women who are already in the sport."

While some of the sponsorship dollars raised are going to the professional women's payout, there are also dollars being spent to increase the amount of "goodies" that each female competitor walks away with from the match.

"Even amateur women who don't place well will get back three-fold their $125 entry fee," Miculek said.

The sponsorship news gets even better as explained by Babes with Bullets' camp director, Deb Ferns.

"We quickly reached our sponsorship goals for the Babes with Bullets' Challenge, then we continued to receive donations from individuals and companies who share our passion for encouraging female participation in the 3-gun sports,” she said. “We have decided to use these additional donations to reward women at three additional 3-gun matches this year. The matches selected for cash payouts are the USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals, the FNH 3-Gun, and the Blue Ridge Mountain 3-Gun."

Approximately $2,000 in cash prizes will be awarded in the Women's category at each mentioned match. The payout for each division, and the number of places paid, will be based on the number of participants.